Claude Hall
Reflections
Tom Rolla’s Gardenia, West Hollywood, CA, June 9, 2016
Review by Les Traub for Cabaret Scenes
Claude Hall’s slow, deliberate walk down the aisle to the Gardenia’s mic set a tone of confidence and determination that continued throughout the show. A journey through life that sketched a progression through time and place ended up as a character progression with Claude beginning life as Claudine, modifying her name to Claude and finally finding herself and being ready to return to her given name as Claudine. She populated that journey with material from the last several decades with a couple of Great American Songbook songs popping up along the way.
Her melodic speaking voice enabled her to transition nicely into the songs and to switch to spoken lyrics during some of them without a jarring change. It was particularly effective on “Old Friend” (Linda Creed). As her singing voice is a pleasure to listen to, a moderate reduction in the spoken lyrics would not be remiss.
Opening with “You Know How to Love Me” (Reggie Lucas/James Mtume), she moved gracefully and with a strong rhythmic sense.
Describing a strict upbringing and then the freedom that came at 20 with a move to Paris to study at the Fashion Institute, she spoke of how she felt comparing herself to the beautiful models there. A bitter anthem, Nina Simone’s “Four Women,” defined one period in her life, but a comment from someone at a return to the Fashion Institute that the models were jealous of her beauty signaled a change in her outlook. Her choice of songs mirrored closely the journey she spoke of.
Larry Davis, a truly expressive singer, joined her on a couple of duets. Hall’s take on “No One in the World” (Marti Sharron/Ken Hirsch) showed her range, as she can go from a whisper to a shout and not lose sight of what she is singing about. A trio headed by Sandy Stein was with her every step of the journey.
